Reading All the Bookers!

  Booker Prize : Shortlisted 2003 Plot Time and Place :  Present day England Opening sentence :   "The other night, at dinner, Sheba talked about the first time that she and the Connolly boy kissed." Plot summary :  The narrator, Barbara Covett, is telling us this story with a clear aim in mind: she is in the middle of a national scandal and, without confiding her plans to the woman on whose actions this scandal has turned, plans to publish this account for the public eye later.  Barbara is a History teacher. She is a lonely old woman and very judgemental.  Her co-worker, Sheba, is a 40-something-year-old Pottery teacher who is having an affair with a 16-year-old male student.   Review :   Very good psychological portrait of the inner life and motivations of a lonely and unhappy person. In the end you don't know if you hate the villain or feel sorry for her.  Rating :   4/5

  Booker Prize:  Winner 2008 Plot Time and Place :  Present day India Opening sentence:    "Neither you nor I speak English, but there are some things that can be said only in English." Plot summary:  The novel provides a darkly humorous perspective of India's class struggle in a globalized world, as told through a retrospective narration from Balram Halwai, a village boy. Review:   This one grew on me. At first, I wondered why such an apparently light, funny read had won the Booker. But as I went on reading, I really liked the social critique embedded in the story. It's easy to have moral scruples when you've never been hungry... Lots of food for thought and very funny at the same time. A nice surprise.  Rating:   3/5